Navy must and will confront scandal head-on

U-T San Diego’s report about the local U.S. attorney’s office charging five people, including two Navy commanders and a Naval criminal investigator, in a bribery scandal revolving around the chief executive of Singapore-based contractor Glenn Defense Marine is troubling news for San Diego’s large Navy community.

The news is only likely to get worse. Vice Adm. Ted Branch, director of naval intelligence, and Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, director of intelligence operations, have been suspended and their access to classified information blocked because of evidence implicating them in the bribery probe. A Navy spokesman said other officers are likely to be involved as well and promised a vigorous investigation would expose all wrongdoers.

That is as it should be. The U.S. Navy, like all great institutions, has high standards. Confronting a scandal head-on conforms with such standards.